Improved shank-piece for boots and shoes



' tom view of the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEroE.

GEORGE V. SHEFFIELD, OF NORTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED SHANK-PIECE FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 102,721, dated May 3, 1870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE V. SEEEFIELD, of Northbridge, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shank-Pieces for Boots and Shoes, of Which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which- Figure l represents a top view of my improved shank-piece. Fig. 2 represents a bot- Fig. 3 represents a section of the same on line A B, Fig. l and Fig. 4. represents a section on line G D, Fig. 1.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detail.

The nature of my invention consists in an improved leather shank-piece for boots and shoes, made in the peculiar manner hereinafter explained.

Heretofore leather shank-pieces have been made by tacking pieces of leather upon the last, and then trimming or fitting the same to the proper form with a common knife-a process requiring much time and considerable skill to so fit them as to give the proper form to the shank of the boot or shoe, especially the beveled edge part thereof.

In the drawings, A represents one of my improved shank-pieces, the part marked C being the heel and the part marked D the front part thereof, and which is made as follows: A concave die is cut in the form or shape in which the shank-piece is to be made, and is provided with several projecting pins. This die is arranged so as to pass first under a hammer, and then under a rotating cnttin g or planing knife. The operator takes a piece of leather of sufficient size to form the shank-piece, and places it over the hollow die or matrix, after which the die is passed under the hammer, which forces and presses the leather compactly into the die, thereby giving it the proper convex or beveled form a a upon its lower side, after which the die passes under a rotating planing -knife, which planes ol` smoothly the upper part, B, leaving the shank-piece in the form indicated in the-drawings, and which is ready to be applied to the shank of the boot or shoe without any further trimming or scarng.

The planing-knife rotates so as to cut in the direction in which the die moves, thus giving a drawing cut, which keeps the shank-piece perfectly straight during the operation of planing.

The pins in the die or matrix are forced into the bottom of the shank-piece, so as to form holes, as indicated at b b, thereby holding the shank-piece, and preventing its being drawn out of the die by the planing-cutter during the operation of planing or cutting the upper part, B.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that leather shank-pieces can be made, according to my invention, in a very quick and expeditious manner, while at the same time the bers of the leather are forced compactly together, thus rendering my improved shankpiece superior, both in eheapness and quality, to those made in the ordinary way. Th ey may be made rights and lefts or straights, according to the form of the die used.

As I propose to apply for separate Letters Patent for the machine used for making my improved shank-piece, no further description thereof will be given.

The shank-pieces may be made from solid leather, from leather-board, wood, or other suitable fibrous material, and, in lieu of a hammer for forcing the leather into the die, a roll or piston may be employed for that purpose, and instead of a rotating knife a horizontal or straight knife may be employed in the machine to remove the surplus leatherfrom the surface B.

Having described my improvements in shank-pieces for boots and shoes, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent as an improved article of manufacture, is-

A leather shank-piece for boot-s and shoes planed offl on its upper side, and having its lower and rounded side shaped by compression in a die, substantially as shown and set forth.

GEORGE V. SHEFFIELD.

Witnesses:

Trios. H. DODGE, GEO. H. MILLER. 

